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July Plot Discussion

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lolipiece

Pictured: what browsing Serebii does to a person
Staff member
Moderator
'ello, 'ello! It's time for Pokespe SWSH for May!
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E14q9EYUYAMkuK4.jpg

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Gordie! And Eiscue! Lots of 'em! Is Peta there?
 

BenLee really not taken

Hey everyone, Bhrjr here.
And now I think we all know why they were on disguises (simply because it’s freezing).
And true to everyone’s expectations, this is probably where she’ll find Peta since it’s where she caught it in the first place.
And Sonia wonders why the truck is moving... perhaps Sordward and Shieldbert are stealing them?
 

G-SANtos

Well-Known Member
Shieldmilia's clothes, confirmed by Yamamoto's new Twitter banner.

Strange that Makuwa (Gordie) is getting so much focus when Saitou (Bea) only had cameos. Maybe Kusaka is really saving her for an Isle fo Armor arc? While I guess it would make sense for Saitou to train Kubfu, it would be weird for a character that isn't even part of the IoA's story in the games be the protagonist of the IoA arc. Like, Klara and Savory (Avery) exist. Pick one of them for the player's role, and you can have the rivalry story without having to balance the version exclusive encounters.

On the other hand, could it be that Soudo will fight Makuwa instead of Melon? So, the male Gym Leaders in the Gym Challenge, and female ones in the Champion Cup?

Though it might just be due to the entire backstory between Melon and Makuwa. Saitou and Onion (Allister) don't have any known connection besides being Gym Leaders in the same town. Some Japanese fans believe they are siblings (or the same person. Yes, really) because they have similar hairstyle, face, and Dynamax throws, but the only existing interaction between them is some concept art of Saitou freaking out at Onion's hair moving like it's possessed. Meanwhile Makuwa and Melon have an entire drama between them that ignoring would be out of character for PokéSpe.

And all those Eiscue are going to the place Shieldmilia first met Peta. So if Shieldmilia has been near the Steamdrift Way, it means she traveled there once. Which means she most likely caught all of her Pokémon in their actual habitats instead of, like, being randomly gifted them by different people or only meeting Wanderers.
Anyway, with Peta returning soon, I think my theory about them returning in the same order were first said is correct.

So, if she already traveled before, why didn't she travel again to look for them before the Gym Challenge? Or did the Magnolia crew actually travel through Galar during that one year period? Because I always understood they were based on Wedgehurst prior to the Gym Challenge and the Wild Area was the farthest they got.

And Sonia wonders why the truck is moving... perhaps Sordward and Shieldbert are stealing them?
I didn't get that from her words. The first thing she says is "Hey, isn't that grandmother's trailer house?", which to me just sounds like she's noting "Huh, grandma is here" and not anything like "Why is the car moving?", specially when nothing we are seeing gives the impression Magnolia is not inside.
Nothing Sonia said implies suspicion around the trailer moving, and this translation is consistent with that.

That said, the fact they specifically pointed that out, means something's up, and 5ch agrees. Maybe Magnolia is suspicious of Soudo and is checking on something while he's away?

Speaking of 5ch, it'll be a little annoying to track them for now because they made two part138 threads when the part137 one was reaching post limit. That isn't the first time it happend, but I think last time one of the threads became the main one quickly and the duplicate was abandoned. It has been a few days and there's no signs of either thread being abandoned.

Anyway, details from 5ch:
-Manabu (Marvin) is helping Soudo with the cane repair. So I guess they really are going to become teacher and student. Even more points to them eventually clashing.
-There's a battle scene involving all 3 Starters or something.
-Volume 59's cover looks cool. Damn Karubi, why didn't you show it!? It seems like it depicts the entire group lined up, like the chapter cover Yamamoto said he was recreating.

While looking on Twitter to see if anyone put a picture of the cover (no one did), I found this tweet by Magic Man talking about the chapter. Translation:
"This month's Shī-chan: She knows the tactics used by Lady [Platinum]. Could Shī-chan also be related to the Berlitz family?"
I don't know if Kusaka would this card again so soon after Moon, but Shieldmilia is a girl of science just like Platinum and Moon. Only thing is, we know her surname is not Berlitz.
Also, Magnolia knows her since she was a child, and Shieldmilia knew the Slumbering Weald was an off-limits place, so she's most likely from the area possibly named Field Land.

But, we DO have remakes this time, and I feel like Moon being Platinum's sister was always meant to connect to remakes. One thing that always stood out to me in the SM games, is that Aether made 3 Type: Null and one went missing. That seemed like a hint that we would find and catch it in another region, and with Alola's story being all about extradimensional Pokémon, it feels like Game Freak planned Sinnoh remakes for the 3DS during SM's production. If that is true and Kusaka knew, or at least believed to be the case, Moon being Platinum's sister might have been meant to give a reason for her and Sun to appear in the remake arc.

If Shieldmilia is related to the Berlitz family, it might be for this same reason: A way to have the Galar group show up in Sinnoh. Given her surname, she might not be considered part of the family. Like, maybe she's related to Platinum's father, and not the actual Berlitz side of the family.

Anyway, here's the big analysis I promised last thread.

Soudo hiding Shieldmilia's amnesia from even her seems like another point for him being shady. Heck, he even knows how it works! But besides that, I think I finally found something that the evil Soudo theory was missing.

So far, I imagined the events roughly as follows: Soudo goes to the Slumbering Weald to find the Rusted items, likely on Swod and Shieldy's orders, and meets Shieldmilia on the way. Deep in the Weald, as the girl approaches the weapons, the royal brothers attack, steal the Sword and Shield, as well as her Pokémon, and order Soudo to infiltrate Magnolia's lab.
But I always thought there was something off here. First of all, it doesn't make much sense for the twins to go to the Slumbering Weald if they already an underling there. But I couldn't think of any other explanation for that mysterious light... And I still can't.

And second, the idea of Soudo being a sleeper agent theory was lacking something very important: A motivation. In the games, the royal brothers send a spy to Sonia's lab to steal data for their plan to tarnish the wolves' reputation as heroes. Their motivation is anger at Sonia's book... Which doesn't exist yet here.
Why would Swod and Shieldy send a spy to Magnolia's lab? The purpose of their Dynamax experiments in the games was to force Zacian and Zamazenta into a kaiju rampage. But Zacian and Zamazenta are still unknown here, they have absolutely no reason to mess with Dynamax.

But after this chapter, we may have a potential motivation, and that has to do with Shieldmilia's memories.

So, right now, people don't know about Zacian and Zamazenta. And the royal family wants to keep it that way. They've covered up the heroes' existence for ages, even creating a mural to hide their statues in Stow-on-Side (instead of, you know, actually destroying the statues!? Maybe Kusaka can come up with an explanation here. Super-hard material?). Everyone thinks the Darkest Day was stopped by one hero or two heroes literally wielding a sword and a shield.
But we know in the games that there is literature mentioning Zacian and Zamazenta, but only in other regions. It's how Sonia learns their names. So it's not impossible for someone in Galar to know about them. And Shieldmilia knows a lot about Pokémon. I think you know where I'm going, right?

Shieldmilia knew about Zacian and Zamazenta.
Think about it, Shieldmilia lost her knowledge about Pokémon right after her encounter with Zacian and Zamazenta, the Pokémon no one is supposed to know about. Isn't it too much of a coincidence for those two things to not be related?
And this also answers the question of why the royals would send a spy to Magnolia's lab. The answer is... They didn't. I've been looking at all of this the wrong angle, the target was never Magnolia, it was Shieldmilia all along!

Let's recap the events a bit. Soudo goes to the Slumbering Weald to see the Rusted Sword and Rusted Shield, and possibly to steal them on the royals' orders. Just a quick mission, go there and return home. Along the way, he meets Shieldmilia. So far so good, the Weald is near a town, of course there's people. But then Shieldmilia is an open book: She talks all about her studies, Professor Magnolia, Dynamax, and the Gym Challenge, all things Soudo clearly doesn't care about. But still, nothing weird so far, just a normal girl who wants to be a researcher.
And then, there's the encounter with the wolves. Nothing weird, these are the owners of the Sword and Shield after all, of course they would be there. And there's no harm in a random stranger seeing them since no one would know what they are, so Soudo has nothing to worry about, right?

But, what if Shieldmilia actually said something like "Hey, these are Zacian and Zamazenta!" during that? Well, then that raises some red flags. Soudo just stumbled upon a girl that has forbidden knowledge AND has ties to a major researcher who studies the phenomenon behind Galar's biggest televised spectacle. Shieldmilia is a threat: With her knowledge and contacts, it's only a matter of time until the narrative the royal family maintained for so long crumbles. This is an emergency.

So Soudo does whatever he does, which we don't know yet but I'll theorize in a bit, and then reports to the royal family. They give him a new mission: To observe. So he sticks around to learn if Magnolia knows anything (which he quickly determines she doesn't) and observe Shieldmilia, to see if her memories will return or not.
And since the Gym Challenge's beginning, we've seen him gathering intel. Remember the statue at Budew Drop Inn? Soudo was the one to ask Sonia about the weapons. It's even the first thing he asks! Why? To assess what she knows. Not only that, he has gone out of his way to be near Sonia on every historical site or ruins. The geoglyph? He sabotaged the trailer house to have Sonia there with him. The Hammerlocke vault? He rushed ahead alone after his battle with Kabu just to be there durig Sonia's visit. And we can be sure he'll also be around when Sonia visits the Hero's Bath.

All of this has one purpose: Gathering info. Besides spying on Sonia and inquiring her knowledge, Soudo is also looking at what she's able to conclude from the artefacts and ruins. The royal family covered up the Stow-on-Side statues, which is the most explicit record of Zacian and Zamazenta we know of, and likely tried to burn the tapestry at Bob's Your Uncle. But what if there are more subtle records around Galar, records that the royal family missed and only a historian would be able to decipher? Soudo is checking if there's anything left they might need to cover up that's not immediately obvious. Maybe the wolf sillhouettes at the Hero's Bath are such a thing? Looking forward to his reaction to that.

Him setting up events to have Sonia at the geoglyph might seem counter-intuitive if you want to cover up, but remember, the original plan was for them to go with Magnolia, who is not versed in history. There's nothing he could conclude from having her there. But Sonia? She was trying to see the ruins before, but didn't get permission. But if she insisted and was eventually successful? If that happens after Soudo is already away, he misses on gathering intel on her. So he sabotaged the trailer to make sure she visits it on his watch.

Interestingly, Soudo was away during Beet's attack on the mural, an event that greatly endangers the royal family's cover up, and is so far the only history-related thing he missed. A random attack on the mural is not something he could've predicted, but I bet Soudo would've fought Beet if he was around at the time.
And now, conveniently Soudo is also away when Sonia is going to look at the 5th tapestry. The tapestry clearly shows the Slumbering Weald monument, but it means nothing to something who has never seen it. I wonder if something is going to come out of the Hero's Bath visit here.

So there it is, if we think Shieldmilia knew about the wolves, we have a perfect motivation for Soudo's actions. His dead father might also have something to do with why he would work for the royal family, but we don't have anywhere near enough info on that for now.
As for how Shieldmilia would know about the wolves? I see two possibilities:
1) Literature from other regions like in the games. If the Berlitz have books on Zacian and Zamazenta, and Shieldmilia has ties to them, she could easily get access to said books.
2) The Tate family has knowledge about them and Shieldmilia learned from her mother. Technically speaking, at the end of the post-game, Swod and Shildy imply the protagonist is royalty. Masaru (Victor) even has the kanji for king (王) on his default backpack. I wouldn't be surprised if Kusaka did something with

I initially thought of 2, and I still think it might end up being the truth, but I just noticed the problem with that: Shieldmilia's mother should be able to easily tell her about the wolves if the girl forgot, and it seems weird she wouldn't tell her mother about the Weald incident for an entire year. Well, unless the mother got suspicious about Soudo from the start. Maybe his surname? The "sword" (Tsurugi) clan destroys history and the "shield" (Tate) clan protects it?

Now, for the mysterious event in the Slumbering Weald that kickstarted it all. Shieldmilia lost her memories, which means Soudo must have a way to do that. And her Pokémon disappearing from the Slumbering Weald and ending up in places like the Wild Area and Glimwood Tangle, which are all so far away from there (Glimwood Tangle is on the other side of Galar! And every remaining Gym is on the region's northern half, so for story purposes every other Pokémon must be there), has a simple explanation: Teleport.

So, if Soudo can erase memories and has access to Teleport, then he must have a hidden Psychic Pokémon. Under normal circumstances I would suggest Beheeyem because that's what it can do, but unless it's a borrowed Pokémon, Soudo's theme means it has to be a Pokémon with a tool, meaning the only options are Alakazam and Hypno. I think Hypno would make more sense because its theme of hypnotism would work with memory supression, and because it's been less used in PokéSpe. But I'm not sure if Kusaka would use a Pokémon that's not even programmed in the game as a major plot device. Anyway, Alakazam or Hypno, I'll just call it "Soudo's Psychic Pokémon" for now, and Soudo is able to hide it due to the PC now being accessible from the Rotom Phone.

So Soudo uses a Psychic Pokémon on Shieldmilia. Why teleport her Pokémon? Because he couldn't defeat them. Somehow Soudo and Shieldmilia start battling, and despite the combination of Farfetch'd and a Psychic Pokémon having type advantage against four or her Pokémon, Soudo is still unable to overwhelm them, and teleports them to random locations as a last ditch effort. Now, with Shieldmilia being defenseless, Soudo is able to erase her memories.

That sounds simple enough, but there's something else I want to bring up. This is what Soudo said when he explained Shieldmilia's amnesia: "I thought maybe you'd locked away all that knowledge so you wouldn't forget the Pokémon you lost."
That sounds consistent with what we've seen so far. But there's a part that stands out to me. "So you wouldn't forget the Pokémon you lost"? This sounds a bit too specific, so how would Soudo even know about that? Did he try to erase Shieldmilia's memories of her own Pokémon?
If so, he failed. Why? Well, we've seen with Gunbain that when its fan was damaged, it was unable to control more than one Pokémon at once. Maybe Soudo's Psychic Pokémon had its tool damaged in the battle, and the induced amnesia was incomplete as a result.

It could be a stretch, but the fact her memories are slowly returning, seems to me like the erasure wasn't completely successful. I think that fits if the idea is to have the event be a chaotic situation: Soudo just wanted to get the items, finds an unexpected threat he wasn't prepared for, panics, and tries to execute a plan cooked up on the spot, but screws up.
And if he did really try to erase her memories of her Pokémon... It wasn't a good plan. Like, short term, he prevents Shieldmilia from noticing they're missing, but after that, someone that knows her would notice their absence and that she doesn't seem to know what they're talking about when asked. That could draw even more unwanted attention than the disappearance itself.

So, what do you think?
 

SerGoldenhandtheJust

Deluded Dreamer
Shieldmilia's clothes, confirmed by Yamamoto's new Twitter banner.

Strange that Makuwa (Gordie) is getting so much focus when Saitou (Bea) only had cameos. Maybe Kusaka is really saving her for an Isle fo Armor arc? While I guess it would make sense for Saitou to train Kubfu, it would be weird for a character that isn't even part of the IoA's story in the games be the protagonist of the IoA arc. Like, Klara and Savory (Avery) exist. Pick one of them for the player's role, and you can have the rivalry story without having to balance the version exclusive encounters.

On the other hand, could it be that Soudo will fight Makuwa instead of Melon? So, the male Gym Leaders in the Gym Challenge, and female ones in the Champion Cup?

Though it might just be due to the entire backstory between Melon and Makuwa. Saitou and Onion (Allister) don't have any known connection besides being Gym Leaders in the same town. Some Japanese fans believe they are siblings (or the same person. Yes, really) because they have similar hairstyle, face, and Dynamax throws, but the only existing interaction between them is some concept art of Saitou freaking out at Onion's hair moving like it's possessed. Meanwhile Makuwa and Melon have an entire drama between them that ignoring would be out of character for PokéSpe.

And all those Eiscue are going to the place Shieldmilia first met Peta. So if Shieldmilia has been near the Steamdrift Way, it means she traveled there once. Which means she most likely caught all of her Pokémon in their actual habitats instead of, like, being randomly gifted them by different people or only meeting Wanderers.
Anyway, with Peta returning soon, I think my theory about them returning in the same order were first said is correct.

So, if she already traveled before, why didn't she travel again to look for them before the Gym Challenge? Or did the Magnolia crew actually travel through Galar during that one year period? Because I always understood they were based on Wedgehurst prior to the Gym Challenge and the Wild Area was the farthest they got.


I didn't get that from her words. The first thing she says is "Hey, isn't that grandmother's trailer house?", which to me just sounds like she's noting "Huh, grandma is here" and not anything like "Why is the car moving?", specially when nothing we are seeing gives the impression Magnolia is not inside.
Nothing Sonia said implies suspicion around the trailer moving, and this translation is consistent with that.

That said, the fact they specifically pointed that out, means something's up, and 5ch agrees. Maybe Magnolia is suspicious of Soudo and is checking on something while he's away?

Speaking of 5ch, it'll be a little annoying to track them for now because they made two part138 threads when the part137 one was reaching post limit. That isn't the first time it happend, but I think last time one of the threads became the main one quickly and the duplicate was abandoned. It has been a few days and there's no signs of either thread being abandoned.

Anyway, details from 5ch:
-Manabu (Marvin) is helping Soudo with the cane repair. So I guess they really are going to become teacher and student. Even more points to them eventually clashing.
-There's a battle scene involving all 3 Starters or something.
-Volume 59's cover looks cool. Damn Karubi, why didn't you show it!? It seems like it depicts the entire group lined up, like the chapter cover Yamamoto said he was recreating.

While looking on Twitter to see if anyone put a picture of the cover (no one did), I found this tweet by Magic Man talking about the chapter. Translation:
"This month's Shī-chan: She knows the tactics used by Lady [Platinum]. Could Shī-chan also be related to the Berlitz family?"
I don't know if Kusaka would this card again so soon after Moon, but Shieldmilia is a girl of science just like Platinum and Moon. Only thing is, we know her surname is not Berlitz.
Also, Magnolia knows her since she was a child, and Shieldmilia knew the Slumbering Weald was an off-limits place, so she's most likely from the area possibly named Field Land.

But, we DO have remakes this time, and I feel like Moon being Platinum's sister was always meant to connect to remakes. One thing that always stood out to me in the SM games, is that Aether made 3 Type: Null and one went missing. That seemed like a hint that we would find and catch it in another region, and with Alola's story being all about extradimensional Pokémon, it feels like Game Freak planned Sinnoh remakes for the 3DS during SM's production. If that is true and Kusaka knew, or at least believed to be the case, Moon being Platinum's sister might have been meant to give a reason for her and Sun to appear in the remake arc.

If Shieldmilia is related to the Berlitz family, it might be for this same reason: A way to have the Galar group show up in Sinnoh. Given her surname, she might not be considered part of the family. Like, maybe she's related to Platinum's father, and not the actual Berlitz side of the family.

Anyway, here's the big analysis I promised last thread.

Soudo hiding Shieldmilia's amnesia from even her seems like another point for him being shady. Heck, he even knows how it works! But besides that, I think I finally found something that the evil Soudo theory was missing.

So far, I imagined the events roughly as follows: Soudo goes to the Slumbering Weald to find the Rusted items, likely on Swod and Shieldy's orders, and meets Shieldmilia on the way. Deep in the Weald, as the girl approaches the weapons, the royal brothers attack, steal the Sword and Shield, as well as her Pokémon, and order Soudo to infiltrate Magnolia's lab.
But I always thought there was something off here. First of all, it doesn't make much sense for the twins to go to the Slumbering Weald if they already an underling there. But I couldn't think of any other explanation for that mysterious light... And I still can't.

And second, the idea of Soudo being a sleeper agent theory was lacking something very important: A motivation. In the games, the royal brothers send a spy to Sonia's lab to steal data for their plan to tarnish the wolves' reputation as heroes. Their motivation is anger at Sonia's book... Which doesn't exist yet here.
Why would Swod and Shieldy send a spy to Magnolia's lab? The purpose of their Dynamax experiments in the games was to force Zacian and Zamazenta into a kaiju rampage. But Zacian and Zamazenta are still unknown here, they have absolutely no reason to mess with Dynamax.

But after this chapter, we may have a potential motivation, and that has to do with Shieldmilia's memories.

So, right now, people don't know about Zacian and Zamazenta. And the royal family wants to keep it that way. They've covered up the heroes' existence for ages, even creating a mural to hide their statues in Stow-on-Side (instead of, you know, actually destroying the statues!? Maybe Kusaka can come up with an explanation here. Super-hard material?). Everyone thinks the Darkest Day was stopped by one hero or two heroes literally wielding a sword and a shield.
But we know in the games that there is literature mentioning Zacian and Zamazenta, but only in other regions. It's how Sonia learns their names. So it's not impossible for someone in Galar to know about them. And Shieldmilia knows a lot about Pokémon. I think you know where I'm going, right?

Shieldmilia knew about Zacian and Zamazenta.
Think about it, Shieldmilia lost her knowledge about Pokémon right after her encounter with Zacian and Zamazenta, the Pokémon no one is supposed to know about. Isn't it too much of a coincidence for those two things to not be related?
And this also answers the question of why the royals would send a spy to Magnolia's lab. The answer is... They didn't. I've been looking at all of this the wrong angle, the target was never Magnolia, it was Shieldmilia all along!

Let's recap the events a bit. Soudo goes to the Slumbering Weald to see the Rusted Sword and Rusted Shield, and possibly to steal them on the royals' orders. Just a quick mission, go there and return home. Along the way, he meets Shieldmilia. So far so good, the Weald is near a town, of course there's people. But then Shieldmilia is an open book: She talks all about her studies, Professor Magnolia, Dynamax, and the Gym Challenge, all things Soudo clearly doesn't care about. But still, nothing weird so far, just a normal girl who wants to be a researcher.
And then, there's the encounter with the wolves. Nothing weird, these are the owners of the Sword and Shield after all, of course they would be there. And there's no harm in a random stranger seeing them since no one would know what they are, so Soudo has nothing to worry about, right?

But, what if Shieldmilia actually said something like "Hey, these are Zacian and Zamazenta!" during that? Well, then that raises some red flags. Soudo just stumbled upon a girl that has forbidden knowledge AND has ties to a major researcher who studies the phenomenon behind Galar's biggest televised spectacle. Shieldmilia is a threat: With her knowledge and contacts, it's only a matter of time until the narrative the royal family maintained for so long crumbles. This is an emergency.

So Soudo does whatever he does, which we don't know yet but I'll theorize in a bit, and then reports to the royal family. They give him a new mission: To observe. So he sticks around to learn if Magnolia knows anything (which he quickly determines she doesn't) and observe Shieldmilia, to see if her memories will return or not.
And since the Gym Challenge's beginning, we've seen him gathering intel. Remember the statue at Budew Drop Inn? Soudo was the one to ask Sonia about the weapons. It's even the first thing he asks! Why? To assess what she knows. Not only that, he has gone out of his way to be near Sonia on every historical site or ruins. The geoglyph? He sabotaged the trailer house to have Sonia there with him. The Hammerlocke vault? He rushed ahead alone after his battle with Kabu just to be there durig Sonia's visit. And we can be sure he'll also be around when Sonia visits the Hero's Bath.

All of this has one purpose: Gathering info. Besides spying on Sonia and inquiring her knowledge, Soudo is also looking at what she's able to conclude from the artefacts and ruins. The royal family covered up the Stow-on-Side statues, which is the most explicit record of Zacian and Zamazenta we know of, and likely tried to burn the tapestry at Bob's Your Uncle. But what if there are more subtle records around Galar, records that the royal family missed and only a historian would be able to decipher? Soudo is checking if there's anything left they might need to cover up that's not immediately obvious. Maybe the wolf sillhouettes at the Hero's Bath are such a thing? Looking forward to his reaction to that.

Him setting up events to have Sonia at the geoglyph might seem counter-intuitive if you want to cover up, but remember, the original plan was for them to go with Magnolia, who is not versed in history. There's nothing he could conclude from having her there. But Sonia? She was trying to see the ruins before, but didn't get permission. But if she insisted and was eventually successful? If that happens after Soudo is already away, he misses on gathering intel on her. So he sabotaged the trailer to make sure she visits it on his watch.

Interestingly, Soudo was away during Beet's attack on the mural, an event that greatly endangers the royal family's cover up, and is so far the only history-related thing he missed. A random attack on the mural is not something he could've predicted, but I bet Soudo would've fought Beet if he was around at the time.
And now, conveniently Soudo is also away when Sonia is going to look at the 5th tapestry. The tapestry clearly shows the Slumbering Weald monument, but it means nothing to something who has never seen it. I wonder if something is going to come out of the Hero's Bath visit here.

So there it is, if we think Shieldmilia knew about the wolves, we have a perfect motivation for Soudo's actions. His dead father might also have something to do with why he would work for the royal family, but we don't have anywhere near enough info on that for now.
As for how Shieldmilia would know about the wolves? I see two possibilities:
1) Literature from other regions like in the games. If the Berlitz have books on Zacian and Zamazenta, and Shieldmilia has ties to them, she could easily get access to said books.
2) The Tate family has knowledge about them and Shieldmilia learned from her mother. Technically speaking, at the end of the post-game, Swod and Shildy imply the protagonist is royalty. Masaru (Victor) even has the kanji for king (王) on his default backpack. I wouldn't be surprised if Kusaka did something with

I initially thought of 2, and I still think it might end up being the truth, but I just noticed the problem with that: Shieldmilia's mother should be able to easily tell her about the wolves if the girl forgot, and it seems weird she wouldn't tell her mother about the Weald incident for an entire year. Well, unless the mother got suspicious about Soudo from the start. Maybe his surname? The "sword" (Tsurugi) clan destroys history and the "shield" (Tate) clan protects it?

Now, for the mysterious event in the Slumbering Weald that kickstarted it all. Shieldmilia lost her memories, which means Soudo must have a way to do that. And her Pokémon disappearing from the Slumbering Weald and ending up in places like the Wild Area and Glimwood Tangle, which are all so far away from there (Glimwood Tangle is on the other side of Galar! And every remaining Gym is on the region's northern half, so for story purposes every other Pokémon must be there), has a simple explanation: Teleport.

So, if Soudo can erase memories and has access to Teleport, then he must have a hidden Psychic Pokémon. Under normal circumstances I would suggest Beheeyem because that's what it can do, but unless it's a borrowed Pokémon, Soudo's theme means it has to be a Pokémon with a tool, meaning the only options are Alakazam and Hypno. I think Hypno would make more sense because its theme of hypnotism would work with memory supression, and because it's been less used in PokéSpe. But I'm not sure if Kusaka would use a Pokémon that's not even programmed in the game as a major plot device. Anyway, Alakazam or Hypno, I'll just call it "Soudo's Psychic Pokémon" for now, and Soudo is able to hide it due to the PC now being accessible from the Rotom Phone.

So Soudo uses a Psychic Pokémon on Shieldmilia. Why teleport her Pokémon? Because he couldn't defeat them. Somehow Soudo and Shieldmilia start battling, and despite the combination of Farfetch'd and a Psychic Pokémon having type advantage against four or her Pokémon, Soudo is still unable to overwhelm them, and teleports them to random locations as a last ditch effort. Now, with Shieldmilia being defenseless, Soudo is able to erase her memories.

That sounds simple enough, but there's something else I want to bring up. This is what Soudo said when he explained Shieldmilia's amnesia: "I thought maybe you'd locked away all that knowledge so you wouldn't forget the Pokémon you lost."
That sounds consistent with what we've seen so far. But there's a part that stands out to me. "So you wouldn't forget the Pokémon you lost"? This sounds a bit too specific, so how would Soudo even know about that? Did he try to erase Shieldmilia's memories of her own Pokémon?
If so, he failed. Why? Well, we've seen with Gunbain that when its fan was damaged, it was unable to control more than one Pokémon at once. Maybe Soudo's Psychic Pokémon had its tool damaged in the battle, and the induced amnesia was incomplete as a result.

It could be a stretch, but the fact her memories are slowly returning, seems to me like the erasure wasn't completely successful. I think that fits if the idea is to have the event be a chaotic situation: Soudo just wanted to get the items, finds an unexpected threat he wasn't prepared for, panics, and tries to execute a plan cooked up on the spot, but screws up.
And if he did really try to erase her memories of her Pokémon... It wasn't a good plan. Like, short term, he prevents Shieldmilia from noticing they're missing, but after that, someone that knows her would notice their absence and that she doesn't seem to know what they're talking about when asked. That could draw even more unwanted attention than the disappearance itself.

So, what do you think?
I absolutely love this theory! It would be such an amazing and well executed plot twist if Kusaka goes through this and the story would get infinitely interesting
 

e9310103838

Well-Known Member
Volume 59 cover :cool:

7a7a558a55273a64166cbc09092bef2350c657c9.jpg


So we got Flabébé a blue flower? On the previous covers (XY volume 6 and Volume 57) it is red flower, but in XY volume 6 team introduction and PokeSPedia it is yellow flower. Is its new flower blue? (In the original plot, the new flower thing only mentioned but did not explain the follow-up.)
 
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lolipiece

Pictured: what browsing Serebii does to a person
Staff member
Moderator
I thought Trevor's Flabebe was a Red Flower.
 

Spider-Phoenix

#ChespinGang
Volume 59 cover :cool:

7a7a558a55273a64166cbc09092bef2350c657c9.jpg


So we got Flabébé a blue flower? On the previous covers (XY volume 6 and Volume 57) it is red flower, but in XY volume 6 team introduction and PokeSPedia it is yellow flower. Is its new flower blue? (In the original plot, the new flower thing only mentioned but did not explain the follow-up.)
Can't believe I'm going to say that but... Chespin looks awful here.

Actually, for some reason the art is looking a bit... fanart-y. I dunno. It doesn't seem the typical Yamamoto for me...
 

BenLee really not taken

Hey everyone, Bhrjr here.
It certainly does seem to lack shadings.
Also, speaking of Soudo manipulating the events, it was also implied that he made Nessa's Pokemon confused (somehow) just so Schilly could win. Wonder how that's gonna work now that she lost.
 
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Well, we know Sou's motivation. He wants to hold the Sword and Shield in his own hands. As to why?

My guess, it's because his dad died before finishing his training. Sou only got up to the part of fixing weapons, not making them. He thinks that if he gets to see and feel real weapons, he might figure the rest out on his own. He gets tasked with finding and delivering the Legendary weapons, and his chances will increase if he stays with Schilly and Magnolia.
 
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Beat!

The Chords of Steel
Volume 59 cover :cool:

7a7a558a55273a64166cbc09092bef2350c657c9.jpg


So we got Flabébé a blue flower? On the previous covers (XY volume 6 and Volume 57) it is red flower, but in XY volume 6 team introduction and PokeSPedia it is yellow flower. Is its new flower blue? (In the original plot, the new flower thing only mentioned but did not explain the follow-up.)

Looking forward to this volume. All past ones had at least one chapter not found in the first release (Mind you, we already knew those back from Pokemon Fan). After all, if they don't want to fall in sales, they need to give people something new here and there and not make these volumes a re-release of the ones from a few years ago.

So here's hoping we get something new.
 

Redstar45

The Anime/Special's canon know it all.
It seems that because Kusaka is unwell, the Sword and Shield serialization is suspended this month. Hope he recovers soon. :oops:

Waiting for Sword and Shield volume 3 cover.
Covid-19 ? -_-'

Since the game (PLA) receives positive feedbacks after it's release. I think there is a higher chance that LPA could be a potential Pokespe Chapter with the title "Brillant Diamond and Shining Pearl: Legends Arceus", and I think Kusaka and Yamamoto (who purchases the game in advance) were interested for it. But on the other hand,the SWSH chapter should be at least in the Isle of Armor/Crown Tundra arc during that time.

Between the Isle of Armor, Crown Tundra, BDSP, and Legends I have no clue how Kusaka is going to tie everything up. And that's not even addressing any Rainbow Rocket shenanigans and the ever dying hope of a Let's Go arc.
That's one of the many reasons why Gen 9 should be moved until 2023.
 

G-SANtos

Well-Known Member
As always, my time management is horrible, I get an extra month to post theories and have them be discussed, and yet I only manage to do so a week before the next chapter.

First, I want to say one thing I forgot to say before. I've seen people mentioning before that Soudo and Shieldmilia's English names are apparently going to be Henry and Casey because of some Viz synopsis, though others brought up Lack-Two was named Rachel or something similar in one of those and that turned out to be wrong. I think using this name could potentially backfire someday.
If a Johto Let's Go game happens, I think it might include more anime characters than just the Team Rocket trio. One of these characters would be Nanako (Casey) because she was apparently intended to be Satoshi's (Ash) Johto Rival: Satoshi calls her his Rival in the Japanese version of her first episode, and she appears in the fifth opening with Shigeru (Gary) and Hiroshi (Ritchie), his other Rivals. That seems to have been scrapped midway, and I guess someone at the time, maybe even an executive, didn't like the idea of Satoshi having a female Rival.

But despite her underuse, she appeared in the Zany Cards game and was also considered major enough to be in two specials, so I think she would be in a Johto Let's Go game, along with Hiroshi, Kenji (Tracey), and Jun'ichi (Vincent). And if an LGPE arc happens after the SM/USUM full volumes, then the LG Johto game would also get an arc, and if Nanako appears, then you have two characters with the same English name.
Sure, technically every original manga character runs the risk of having the same name as a game character eventually, and we already have repeated names in PokéSpe, but this time it would be a Pokédex Holder.

Actually, I'm not even sure if we would need an LG Johto arc for that to happen since apparently anything from the games can be in any any arc. Katsura (Blaine) in his HGSS clothes appears in XY, Faraway Island appears in FRLG despite being an Emerald location, Embedded Tower is in ORAS despite being a HGSS location, and Tooru's (Todd) first appearance wasn't even in a Gen 1 or Kanto-related arc. Theoretically speaking Copycat, the Old Guys, or whoever els could show up in the Gen 9 arc if Kusaka feels like it. It seems like as long as Nanako shows up in a main game, she could be in PokéSpe and break the One Steve Limit.

Also, I guess it's nice that Kusaka and Yamamoto are letting the main characters wear different outfits, but is it asking too much for other characters to get the same treatment? Seriously, why is Makuwa (Gordie) wearing his uniform outside of a Gym? And the same for the other Leaders. Yes, I know the games do the same thing, but having the Gym Leaders wearing casual clothes in the Isle of Armor would require new models that would need to be rigged, while a manga can just draw them wearing something else.

Anyway, volume 3 details.
The updated Pokémon League statistics. As you can see, Beet has a square that says "disqualified", but Shieldmilia only has a black circle. They've said losing a Gym battle disqualifies you from the Gym Challenge, and yet they're pretty much avoiding saying "disqualified" here. Well, I guess that could be just because Beet's case wasn't from losing a battle, but it kinda makes me feel there's a way for someone who lost to return to the Gym Challenge, some rule that is not well known.

Next, we have profiles for Soudo's Pokémon. Again. And I seriously thought they would profile Shieldmilia's Pokémon. Maybe after they all return, or Raboot/Cinderace gets a nickname? And we also get a profile on Mr. Rime, complete with info on its tool (cane/ステッキ), and specifying it's male. Okay, I'm now convinced Mr. Rime will join Soudo's team. I was skeptical of this because of how the Galar League works. With all that stuff about celebrity culture and public image, I thought a Gym Challenger being gifted a Leader's Pokémon would seem like favoritism or something like that. I guess they could still bring that up, but handwave anyway.

And one reason I'm now a Stickin (ステッキン) believer is because the profile not only exists, but it specifies this Mr. Rime is male, while Melon's Mr. Rime in the game is female. A few weeks ago I found some pictures of PokéSPedia pages (translated in Chinese) on Baidu, and it said Kuchinashi's (Nanu) Persian is female, just like in the games, and I noticed the same happens to other characters' Pokémon. There's exceptions, I think Lychee's (Olivia) Lycanroc was one but I don't remember for sure (could also be an error), but I'm under the impression Pokémon owned by important characters, if also part of their game teams, tend to be the same gender as they are in the games. So, this Mr. Rime being male, unlike in the games, might be a hint it's not going to stay with her. Also, all of Soudo's Pokémon so far are male.

Sure, Melon could have another female Mr. Rime, but PokéSpe tends to avoid giving the same Pokémon to both a Dex Holder and another character in the same arc, even if it means stripping a character of their ace. For example, Mikuri (Wallace) doesn't have a Milotic, Mache (Valerie) dosn't have a Sylveon, and Mars's Luxray got replaced by an Electivire in the volumes. This also makes me think Dollar might not become a Persian in SM.

By the way, did SM's volumes give detailed profiles on Sun or Moon's Pokémon?

After that we get some info on Galar's legends.
And then, the next volume preview.
"Soudo's resolve!!
The secret of Dynamax is revealed!!
The Gym Challenge's future...
And finally, the Darkest Day... Arrives!!!"

So we'll learn something about Soudo between now and January.
The fact they mention the Gym Challenge right next to a picture of Shieldmilia sounds like the way for her return will be revealed in volume 4. Maybe by Nezu (Piers)? With him being the most "old school" Gym Leader in Galar (like, are his battles even televised or watchable in any way? His Gym doesn't even have audience seats) and also a rebel, it sounds like he would be the one to know an obscure loophole in the system.

As for "the Darkest Day arrives", this is giving me RS flashbacks from when one volume preview basically said "Groudon and Kyogre appear!" and in the end it was just the reveal that they are asleep in the bottom of the sea. I think it was around the Mt. Pyre events?
So, I don't think this blurb is referring to Eternatus yet. Remember, the Darkest Day wasn't just Gigatron's giant hand mode, it was all the Dynamax Pokémon going on a kaiju rampage.

Here's what I think will happen: After the Spikemuth Gym battle, we'll get the postgame plot, with the reveal of multiple Dynamax Pokémon replacing the Route 9 Tunnel event we already had. Swod and Shildy will appear, maybe even in volume 4's last page, and try to put up a heroic charade, saying it's their role as the heroes' descendants to fight the new Darkest Day. Maybe they even publicly show they have the Rusted Sword and Shield (or some cool-looking sword and shield that they pretend to the legendary weapons). We then get something about Soudo's past, and maybe the first clue he's connected to the royal family.

Meanwhile, the Gym Leaders help fight the Dynamax rampages. There are calls for the League to be suspended due to the danger posed to travelers, but Rose, who plans to announce the solution to the future energy crisis during the title match, refuses, using the excuse of "There's only one Gym Leader left, cancelling would be unfair to everyone who got this far" and the League goes.

So, the Gym Challenge continues and eventually the League starts (and Shieldmilia has been reinstated). At the same time, the royal brothers go fighting the Dynamax Pokémon to play hero. Maybe they even cause some Pokémon to Dynamax just to be seen defeating them, with technology they got from Rose, who only gives it to them so he can use Swod and Shildy as a scapegoat in case things get out of control. Though I'm not sure if that fits Rose's character, since that would actively endanger Galar and has nothing to do with solving the energy problem, and in the games they don't seem to use any of Rose's tech for their plan.

I just realized, starting the rampaging Dynamax Pokémon/Swod and Shildy story after the Spikemuth battle makes way more sense than my original theory, which was only after Eternatus interrupts the League, specially since Nezu (Piers) helps the player in the post game, and after Spikemuth the whole Team Yell plot is already sorted. Doing it at the end of the League would take too long to get to and break the story's momentum.

Now, I'm not sure what order the following events go, whether everything is paused for the Swod and Shildy story, or whether it and the League happen somewhat concurrently. I guess the latter sort of follows the games where Dande (Leon) tells the player to worry only about the Gym Challenge, but regardless I think it'll mostly go like this:

At some point, a Dynamax battle in Stow-on-Side destroys what's left of the mural. Sonia starts piecing everything, and the royal brothers go on damage control mode. Maybe they even awaken Zacian and Zamazenta and try to get them to rampage just to smear them or, like, use Ditto and Zoroark to fake a rampage and get the same effect. Or holograms.

Now that I think about it, why did Kusaka create the Dynamax simulator? We've only seen it being used once, and Soudo has only trained with Manabu (Marvin) since. After that, it was brought up again when everyone thought Shieldmilia was going to be blamed for the Route 9 Tunnel incident, which would be explained as a prank. That could have provided tension, but the latest chapter shot that down by saying no one thought that. So, if it's not being used for training or for someone falsely accusing her, then what's the point of the Dynamax simulator? Why even bring up that someone could use it to fake a Dynamax at all?

Because it's foreshadowing that someone will use it for that. Remember that in the games Sonia's assistant gives the Wishing Stars that were at the lab to Swod and Shildy? Maybe Soudo giving them the blueprints for the simulator is how Kusaka is going to adapt that. This might be how Soudo betrays the Magnolia crew.

After that story is done, the League continues. As the Champion match is about to begin, Rose announces Eternatus's awakening, but it slips out of his control, and we know the rest: Wolves, weapons, epic battle. Maybe there's something about having to retrieve the weapons from the royals, and maybe Beet and Saitou (Bea) temporarily partner with the wolves, but we know the basic structure already. After that, the Champion match happens offscreen and the final pages talk about the new Champion, how Dande formed the Battle Tower, happy ending, blah blah, and a transition scene to the next arc.

So, what do you think?

Also, speaking of Soudo manipulating the events, it was also implied that he made Nessa's Pokemon confused (somehow) just so Schilly could win. Wonder how that's gonna work now that she lost.
I did find the Dreadnaw thing weird at the time, but I don't remember if I thought he was behind it. If I did, I dropped that idea pretty fast.
Besides, if Soudo did that on purpose, not only it implies that Soudo wants Shieldmilia to continue winning for some reason, but also you would think he would have set up something in Ballonlea.

Well, we know Sou's motivation. He wants to hold the Sword and Shield in his own hands. As to why?

My guess, it's because his dad died before finishing his training. Sou only got up to the part of fixing weapons, not making them. He thinks that if he gets to see and feel real weapons, he might figure the rest out on his own. He gets tasked with finding and delivering the Legendary weapons, and his chances will increase if he stays with Schilly and Magnolia.
... ... ...
I'm not sure I get your post. From your Tumblr, I get the impression you also believe in the evil Soudo theory, so why are you arguing against it? Or am I misundestanding you here?

Don't you find it suspicious that Soudo not only kept Shieldmilia's amnesia from her, but he apparently understands how it works? Don't you find it weird that Kusaka is breaking the Starter pattern with Soudo, after spending 20+ years following it, almost like he isn't the real protagonist? (And on that point, using a common game NPC instead of an original design as the real deal might be so it's less conspicuous or obvious)

And, you might not have noticed it, but we never actually see Soudo unconscious in the Slumbering Weald. We see Shieldmilia being hit by a light, and then Soudo awakening her. We never actually see him asleep. This is very subtle, but I think it's a clue he was awake during the whole thing.

Of course they wouldn't reveal everything about Soudo's motives right away, specially if him being an antagonist is the intended twist. If you're talking about my "I finally thought of a motivation" line, I was referring to all the sleeper agent thing. If all he wanted was to simply hold the Sword and Shield, then that's probably already done, because the most simple explanation for the weapons vanishing is that he simply took them and they're already with the royal family (maybe even delivered via Teleport), as any other options basically require someone or something else to show up out of nowhere.
 

Gamzee Makara

Flirtin' With Disaster
As always, my time management is horrible, I get an extra month to post theories and have them be discussed, and yet I only manage to do so a week before the next chapter.

First, I want to say one thing I forgot to say before. I've seen people mentioning before that Soudo and Shieldmilia's English names are apparently going to be Henry and Casey because of some Viz synopsis, though others brought up Lack-Two was named Rachel or something similar in one of those and that turned out to be wrong. I think using this name could potentially backfire someday.
If a Johto Let's Go game happens, I think it might include more anime characters than just the Team Rocket trio. One of these characters would be Nanako (Casey) because she was apparently intended to be Satoshi's (Ash) Johto Rival: Satoshi calls her his Rival in the Japanese version of her first episode, and she appears in the fifth opening with Shigeru (Gary) and Hiroshi (Ritchie), his other Rivals. That seems to have been scrapped midway, and I guess someone at the time, maybe even an executive, didn't like the idea of Satoshi having a female Rival.

But despite her underuse, she appeared in the Zany Cards game and was also considered major enough to be in two specials, so I think she would be in a Johto Let's Go game, along with Hiroshi, Kenji (Tracey), and Jun'ichi (Vincent). And if an LGPE arc happens after the SM/USUM full volumes, then the LG Johto game would also get an arc, and if Nanako appears, then you have two characters with the same English name.
Sure, technically every original manga character runs the risk of having the same name as a game character eventually, and we already have repeated names in PokéSpe, but this time it would be a Pokédex Holder.

Actually, I'm not even sure if we would need an LG Johto arc for that to happen since apparently anything from the games can be in any any arc. Katsura (Blaine) in his HGSS clothes appears in XY, Faraway Island appears in FRLG despite being an Emerald location, Embedded Tower is in ORAS despite being a HGSS location, and Tooru's (Todd) first appearance wasn't even in a Gen 1 or Kanto-related arc. Theoretically speaking Copycat, the Old Guys, or whoever els could show up in the Gen 9 arc if Kusaka feels like it. It seems like as long as Nanako shows up in a main game, she could be in PokéSpe and break the One Steve Limit.

Also, I guess it's nice that Kusaka and Yamamoto are letting the main characters wear different outfits, but is it asking too much for other characters to get the same treatment? Seriously, why is Makuwa (Gordie) wearing his uniform outside of a Gym? And the same for the other Leaders. Yes, I know the games do the same thing, but having the Gym Leaders wearing casual clothes in the Isle of Armor would require new models that would need to be rigged, while a manga can just draw them wearing something else.

Anyway, volume 3 details.
The updated Pokémon League statistics. As you can see, Beet has a square that says "disqualified", but Shieldmilia only has a black circle. They've said losing a Gym battle disqualifies you from the Gym Challenge, and yet they're pretty much avoiding saying "disqualified" here. Well, I guess that could be just because Beet's case wasn't from losing a battle, but it kinda makes me feel there's a way for someone who lost to return to the Gym Challenge, some rule that is not well known.

Next, we have profiles for Soudo's Pokémon. Again. And I seriously thought they would profile Shieldmilia's Pokémon. Maybe after they all return, or Raboot/Cinderace gets a nickname? And we also get a profile on Mr. Rime, complete with info on its tool (cane/ステッキ), and specifying it's male. Okay, I'm now convinced Mr. Rime will join Soudo's team. I was skeptical of this because of how the Galar League works. With all that stuff about celebrity culture and public image, I thought a Gym Challenger being gifted a Leader's Pokémon would seem like favoritism or something like that. I guess they could still bring that up, but handwave anyway.

And one reason I'm now a Stickin (ステッキン) believer is because the profile not only exists, but it specifies this Mr. Rime is male, while Melon's Mr. Rime in the game is female. A few weeks ago I found some pictures of PokéSPedia pages (translated in Chinese) on Baidu, and it said Kuchinashi's (Nanu) Persian is female, just like in the games, and I noticed the same happens to other characters' Pokémon. There's exceptions, I think Lychee's (Olivia) Lycanroc was one but I don't remember for sure (could also be an error), but I'm under the impression Pokémon owned by important characters, if also part of their game teams, tend to be the same gender as they are in the games. So, this Mr. Rime being male, unlike in the games, might be a hint it's not going to stay with her. Also, all of Soudo's Pokémon so far are male.

Sure, Melon could have another female Mr. Rime, but PokéSpe tends to avoid giving the same Pokémon to both a Dex Holder and another character in the same arc, even if it means stripping a character of their ace. For example, Mikuri (Wallace) doesn't have a Milotic, Mache (Valerie) dosn't have a Sylveon, and Mars's Luxray got replaced by an Electivire in the volumes. This also makes me think Dollar might not become a Persian in SM.

By the way, did SM's volumes give detailed profiles on Sun or Moon's Pokémon?

After that we get some info on Galar's legends.
And then, the next volume preview.
"Soudo's resolve!!
The secret of Dynamax is revealed!!
The Gym Challenge's future...
And finally, the Darkest Day... Arrives!!!"

So we'll learn something about Soudo between now and January.
The fact they mention the Gym Challenge right next to a picture of Shieldmilia sounds like the way for her return will be revealed in volume 4. Maybe by Nezu (Piers)? With him being the most "old school" Gym Leader in Galar (like, are his battles even televised or watchable in any way? His Gym doesn't even have audience seats) and also a rebel, it sounds like he would be the one to know an obscure loophole in the system.

As for "the Darkest Day arrives", this is giving me RS flashbacks from when one volume preview basically said "Groudon and Kyogre appear!" and in the end it was just the reveal that they are asleep in the bottom of the sea. I think it was around the Mt. Pyre events?
So, I don't think this blurb is referring to Eternatus yet. Remember, the Darkest Day wasn't just Gigatron's giant hand mode, it was all the Dynamax Pokémon going on a kaiju rampage.

Here's what I think will happen: After the Spikemuth Gym battle, we'll get the postgame plot, with the reveal of multiple Dynamax Pokémon replacing the Route 9 Tunnel event we already had. Swod and Shildy will appear, maybe even in volume 4's last page, and try to put up a heroic charade, saying it's their role as the heroes' descendants to fight the new Darkest Day. Maybe they even publicly show they have the Rusted Sword and Shield (or some cool-looking sword and shield that they pretend to the legendary weapons). We then get something about Soudo's past, and maybe the first clue he's connected to the royal family.

Meanwhile, the Gym Leaders help fight the Dynamax rampages. There are calls for the League to be suspended due to the danger posed to travelers, but Rose, who plans to announce the solution to the future energy crisis during the title match, refuses, using the excuse of "There's only one Gym Leader left, cancelling would be unfair to everyone who got this far" and the League goes.

So, the Gym Challenge continues and eventually the League starts (and Shieldmilia has been reinstated). At the same time, the royal brothers go fighting the Dynamax Pokémon to play hero. Maybe they even cause some Pokémon to Dynamax just to be seen defeating them, with technology they got from Rose, who only gives it to them so he can use Swod and Shildy as a scapegoat in case things get out of control. Though I'm not sure if that fits Rose's character, since that would actively endanger Galar and has nothing to do with solving the energy problem, and in the games they don't seem to use any of Rose's tech for their plan.

I just realized, starting the rampaging Dynamax Pokémon/Swod and Shildy story after the Spikemuth battle makes way more sense than my original theory, which was only after Eternatus interrupts the League, specially since Nezu (Piers) helps the player in the post game, and after Spikemuth the whole Team Yell plot is already sorted. Doing it at the end of the League would take too long to get to and break the story's momentum.

Now, I'm not sure what order the following events go, whether everything is paused for the Swod and Shildy story, or whether it and the League happen somewhat concurrently. I guess the latter sort of follows the games where Dande (Leon) tells the player to worry only about the Gym Challenge, but regardless I think it'll mostly go like this:

At some point, a Dynamax battle in Stow-on-Side destroys what's left of the mural. Sonia starts piecing everything, and the royal brothers go on damage control mode. Maybe they even awaken Zacian and Zamazenta and try to get them to rampage just to smear them or, like, use Ditto and Zoroark to fake a rampage and get the same effect. Or holograms.

Now that I think about it, why did Kusaka create the Dynamax simulator? We've only seen it being used once, and Soudo has only trained with Manabu (Marvin) since. After that, it was brought up again when everyone thought Shieldmilia was going to be blamed for the Route 9 Tunnel incident, which would be explained as a prank. That could have provided tension, but the latest chapter shot that down by saying no one thought that. So, if it's not being used for training or for someone falsely accusing her, then what's the point of the Dynamax simulator? Why even bring up that someone could use it to fake a Dynamax at all?

Because it's foreshadowing that someone will use it for that. Remember that in the games Sonia's assistant gives the Wishing Stars that were at the lab to Swod and Shildy? Maybe Soudo giving them the blueprints for the simulator is how Kusaka is going to adapt that. This might be how Soudo betrays the Magnolia crew.

After that story is done, the League continues. As the Champion match is about to begin, Rose announces Eternatus's awakening, but it slips out of his control, and we know the rest: Wolves, weapons, epic battle. Maybe there's something about having to retrieve the weapons from the royals, and maybe Beet and Saitou (Bea) temporarily partner with the wolves, but we know the basic structure already. After that, the Champion match happens offscreen and the final pages talk about the new Champion, how Dande formed the Battle Tower, happy ending, blah blah, and a transition scene to the next arc.

So, what do you think?


I did find the Dreadnaw thing weird at the time, but I don't remember if I thought he was behind it. If I did, I dropped that idea pretty fast.
Besides, if Soudo did that on purpose, not only it implies that Soudo wants Shieldmilia to continue winning for some reason, but also you would think he would have set up something in Ballonlea.


... ... ...
I'm not sure I get your post. From your Tumblr, I get the impression you also believe in the evil Soudo theory, so why are you arguing against it? Or am I misundestanding you here?

Don't you find it suspicious that Soudo not only kept Shieldmilia's amnesia from her, but he apparently understands how it works? Don't you find it weird that Kusaka is breaking the Starter pattern with Soudo, after spending 20+ years following it, almost like he isn't the real protagonist? (And on that point, using a common game NPC instead of an original design as the real deal might be so it's less conspicuous or obvious)

And, you might not have noticed it, but we never actually see Soudo unconscious in the Slumbering Weald. We see Shieldmilia being hit by a light, and then Soudo awakening her. We never actually see him asleep. This is very subtle, but I think it's a clue he was awake during the whole thing.

Of course they wouldn't reveal everything about Soudo's motives right away, specially if him being an antagonist is the intended twist. If you're talking about my "I finally thought of a motivation" line, I was referring to all the sleeper agent thing. If all he wanted was to simply hold the Sword and Shield, then that's probably already done, because the most simple explanation for the weapons vanishing is that he simply took them and they're already with the royal family (maybe even delivered via Teleport), as any other options basically require someone or something else to show up out of nowhere.
This cockamamie HYPOTHESIS is requiring you to jump through so many hoops.

Why are you pushing this?
 

G-SANtos

Well-Known Member
This cockamamie HYPOTHESIS is requiring you to jump through so many hoops.

Why are you pushing this?
And why are you always so aggressive? Seriously, every post I see of yours is you being rude to someone, even outside this section. Were you also like to the "Moon is Platinum's sister" and the "Striaton triplets are the Shadow Triad" theories?

What's with the emphasis on "hypothesis"? Literally every fan theory is technically a hypothesis, but no one really uses the scientifically accurate term.

About the theory, well, I saw in early 2020 a Japanese post saying something about Soudo seemed suspicious. I don't remember the exact conext, but I think I mentioned it in the discussion thread of that month. Then I mixed that with the theory Manabu (Marvin) is the real protagonist, and remembered false protagonist is an actual trope. False protagonists usually either die abruptly in the middle of the story, or are revealed to be an antagonist. Soudo dying is out of the question, so being a false protagonist is the only option left.

Remember, Sun had the Fire Starter, which under the type rotation Kusaka has religiously followed for 20 years without a single break means the next protagonist should have the Water Starter, yet Soudo has the Grass one. If you don't believe the false protagonist theory, then how do you explain that? Because the only options I can think of are "false protagonist" or "there's a Water protagonist between Sun and Soudo".
The latter pretty much relies on volume-only USUM and/or LGPE arcs existing, but both of those have problems:
-LGPE's Starters are Pikachu and Eevee, not the Kanto trio. This arc wouldn't count for the rotation even if they go with new protagonists.
-What exactly would you do for a new protagonist? Sun and Moon already use the USUM designs, so they can't be used for "Ulsun" and "Ulmoon". The protagonist of a USUM arc would be either Sun, Moon, or someone from the Ultra Recon Squad, and Sun and Moon already have Starters. And B2W2 was the only "third version" that moved the rotation.

And then, you still have the problem that Moon and Shieldmilia follow the Grass > Fire rotation perfectly, which basically goes against that option.

So really, why do you think Soudo has the Grass Starter instead of the Water one? I really can't see it being just for the theme because Kusaka has never broken patterns unless the games somehow force his hand (like how it's Lack-Two because Black 2 is too weird for an actual name, and how Legends Arceus will likely force the break of "1 game = 1 character"), which nothing here does, at least not in an obvious way.

The last time, the only other time, Kusaka seemed to break the type rotation, was White having a Tepig. We all know how that turned out.
Back then, did anyone even think a Starter switcheroo would happen? And if so what was the reaction to that theory? I wasn't on Serebii when BW started.
 

SerGoldenhandtheJust

Deluded Dreamer
And why are you always so aggressive? Seriously, every post I see of yours is you being rude to someone, even outside this section. Were you also like to the "Moon is Platinum's sister" and the "Striaton triplets are the Shadow Triad" theories?

What's with the emphasis on "hypothesis"? Literally every fan theory is technically a hypothesis, but no one really uses the scientifically accurate term.

About the theory, well, I saw in early 2020 a Japanese post saying something about Soudo seemed suspicious. I don't remember the exact conext, but I think I mentioned it in the discussion thread of that month. Then I mixed that with the theory Manabu (Marvin) is the real protagonist, and remembered false protagonist is an actual trope. False protagonists usually either die abruptly in the middle of the story, or are revealed to be an antagonist. Soudo dying is out of the question, so being a false protagonist is the only option left.

Remember, Sun had the Fire Starter, which under the type rotation Kusaka has religiously followed for 20 years without a single break means the next protagonist should have the Water Starter, yet Soudo has the Grass one. If you don't believe the false protagonist theory, then how do you explain that? Because the only options I can think of are "false protagonist" or "there's a Water protagonist between Sun and Soudo".
The latter pretty much relies on volume-only USUM and/or LGPE arcs existing, but both of those have problems:
-LGPE's Starters are Pikachu and Eevee, not the Kanto trio. This arc wouldn't count for the rotation even if they go with new protagonists.
-What exactly would you do for a new protagonist? Sun and Moon already use the USUM designs, so they can't be used for "Ulsun" and "Ulmoon". The protagonist of a USUM arc would be either Sun, Moon, or someone from the Ultra Recon Squad, and Sun and Moon already have Starters. And B2W2 was the only "third version" that moved the rotation.

And then, you still have the problem that Moon and Shieldmilia follow the Grass > Fire rotation perfectly, which basically goes against that option.

So really, why do you think Soudo has the Grass Starter instead of the Water one? I really can't see it being just for the theme because Kusaka has never broken patterns unless the games somehow force his hand (like how it's Lack-Two because Black 2 is too weird for an actual name, and how Legends Arceus will likely force the break of "1 game = 1 character"), which nothing here does, at least not in an obvious way.

The last time, the only other time, Kusaka seemed to break the type rotation, was White having a Tepig. We all know how that turned out.
Back then, did anyone even think a Starter switcheroo would happen? And if so what was the reaction to that theory? I wasn't on Serebii when BW started.
I agree with you. While I'm personally still on the fence as to soudo being evil would happen or not (would love it but I feel it's unlikely) I enjoy your theorising and it's kinda annoying to see people shut it down when you're simple speculating. Considering how stale the manga section is, I love the passionate energy you bring here, keep on theorising my friend, even if it ends up wrong it's damn fun to read
 
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